- Paperback: 176 pages
- Publisher: Image Books; Image Books ed edition (Dec 1996)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0385473060
- ISBN-13: 978-0385473064
- Product Dimensions: 20.6 x 13.7 x 1.5 cm
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 1,854,313 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Did you know you can trade in your old books for an Amazon.co.uk Gift Card to spend on the things you want? Plus, get an extra £5 Gift Certificate when you trade in books worth £10 or more before June 30, 2012. Visit the Books Trade-In Store for more details. |
Product details |
More About the Author
Tag this product(What's this?)Think of a tag as a keyword or label you consider is strongly related to this product.
Tags will help all customers organise and find favourite items. |
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Customer Reviews
There are no customer reviews yet on Amazon.co.uk.
5 star
4 star
3 star
2 star
1 star
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
12 reviews
10 of 11 people found the following review helpful
reasonably well done
5 Feb 2002
Format:Paperback
As another reviewer points out, Neusner does not try to address Christianity as a whole. Rather, he addresses a much narrower question: leaving aside the question of whether Jesus was a supernatural figure, how consistent are his teachings with the Torah? Neusner asserts that even if one sees Jesus as a rabbi, his views differ from those of the Torah and of classical Judaism. The major difference: Jesus speaks to the individual, Judaism to the community as a whole. Jesus says "follow me", classical Judaism says "follow the Torah". After reading this book, I understood both Christianity and Judaism a bit better.
9 of 12 people found the following review helpful
Why or Why Not follow Jesus - A Jewish perspective.
26 Mar 1999
Format:Hardcover
Jacob Neusner tackles a difficult task which for many people would be too emotionally charged for them to do the job in a fair an respectful manner. Rabbi Neusner shows himself to be up to the task. His conclusion is (in part) that the crux of the matter is not what Jesus taught but rather who Jesus was. This examination proceeds from the perspective of a contemporary of Jesus who is diligently focused on being an authentic Chosen Person in a Chosen People. "Would I or would I not follow this man?" is the question. His analysis presents serious concepts to consider both on the part of the modern day Jew and Christian.
2 of 3 people found the following review helpful
What an original concept!
21 May 2006
Format:Paperback
Rabbi Neusner imagines the opportunity to live in Jesus' day and age and to enage in conversation with him. Neusner makes it very clear to his readers that he would not become a follower of the Nazarean rabbi, because he finds several problems with the content of Jesus's teachings. Here are some examples:
Jesus' teaching is not addressed to the "eternal Israel" but to "you", a selected few who will follow him rather than the Torah: "The message of Torah always concerns the eternal Israel. The message of Jesus Christ always concerns those who follow him." (p. 103).
Jesus' emphasis is on intimate, secluded, individualistic prayer rather than public, collective (i.e., family and community), liturgical prayer: "the individual in search of salvation, the private person in quest of God." (p. 96)
Jesus' teaching undermines the primacy of the family in the social order: to follow Jesus entails abandoning home and family.
Jesus' focus is on himself, NOT on the Torah (when Jesus says: "whoever loves his father and mother more than him, is not worthy of being his disciple," it is a stumbling block: only God can ask that!!!). So, we have a shift from Torah to Jesus, as if the Ten Commandments and the Law were not enough.
Jesus' emphasis on "be perfect", salvation, freedom from sin and atonement vs. "be holy" of the Torah (sanctification of daily life, separation of sacred from profane).
Jesus' emphasis on kingdom to come vs. "here and now".
According to Neusner, it's what Jesus did NOT talk about that is disturbing, namely the importance of Torah or God's revelation on Sinai. Neusner argues that it is important to both keep rites AND inner morality, instead of privileging the latter at the expense of the former. It seems that Jesus dispensed with the rituals prescribed by the Torah: "To Jesus all that matters is obedience to the moral and ethical teachings of the Torah." (p. 137).
In conclusion, Jesus abolished some of the dots and iotas of the Torah (Mt 15:10, 17-20) despite his protestation that he did not come to abolish it.
Despite of his criticisms, Neusner remains one of the few Jewish scholars to take Christianity seriously and to converse with it.
Jesus' teaching is not addressed to the "eternal Israel" but to "you", a selected few who will follow him rather than the Torah: "The message of Torah always concerns the eternal Israel. The message of Jesus Christ always concerns those who follow him." (p. 103).
Jesus' emphasis is on intimate, secluded, individualistic prayer rather than public, collective (i.e., family and community), liturgical prayer: "the individual in search of salvation, the private person in quest of God." (p. 96)
Jesus' teaching undermines the primacy of the family in the social order: to follow Jesus entails abandoning home and family.
Jesus' focus is on himself, NOT on the Torah (when Jesus says: "whoever loves his father and mother more than him, is not worthy of being his disciple," it is a stumbling block: only God can ask that!!!). So, we have a shift from Torah to Jesus, as if the Ten Commandments and the Law were not enough.
Jesus' emphasis on "be perfect", salvation, freedom from sin and atonement vs. "be holy" of the Torah (sanctification of daily life, separation of sacred from profane).
Jesus' emphasis on kingdom to come vs. "here and now".
According to Neusner, it's what Jesus did NOT talk about that is disturbing, namely the importance of Torah or God's revelation on Sinai. Neusner argues that it is important to both keep rites AND inner morality, instead of privileging the latter at the expense of the former. It seems that Jesus dispensed with the rituals prescribed by the Torah: "To Jesus all that matters is obedience to the moral and ethical teachings of the Torah." (p. 137).
In conclusion, Jesus abolished some of the dots and iotas of the Torah (Mt 15:10, 17-20) despite his protestation that he did not come to abolish it.
Despite of his criticisms, Neusner remains one of the few Jewish scholars to take Christianity seriously and to converse with it.
Were these reviews helpful?
Let us know
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
